Hockey: India Beat Australia Again, Take Unbeatable 2-1 Lead in Test Series

Updated: 08 November 2014 19:21 IST

Rupinder Pal Singh, who played his 100th international match, led India in the absence of regular skipper Sardar Singh as the Asian Gold medalists beat world champions Australia for the second successive time in the hockey Test series.

SV Sunil struck the only goal of the match in the third quarter as India stunned Australia 1-0 in the third hockey Test to take a 2-1 lead in the four-match series, here on Saturday.

Rupinder Pal Singh, who played his 100th international match, led the Indian side in the absence of regular skipper Sardar Singh.

The Indian boys kept troubling the Aussie defenders but were unable to net the goal in the first quarter. The second quarter was also barren. Coming into the third quarter, it was India who broke the shackles and scored the opening goal which left the Kookaburras stunned.

In the 34th minute SV Sunil netted the ball from a beautiful pass from Akashdeep Singh. The Indians played more aggressively after that. They not only ensured good possession but even kept the pressure on the opponents' defense.

The Australians found it extremely difficult to penetrate into the Indian defence. The last quarter saw the Indian defenders skilfully tackling the opponents whenever the Kookaburras attacked their D.